1. Selling and Salespeople
Chapter 1
Selling and Salespeople

2. Why Learn About Personal Selling?
Personal selling-a person-to-person business activity in which a salesperson uncovers & satisfies the needs of a buyer to the mutual, long-term benefit of both parties
Everyone sells
Principles of selling are useful to everyone
(employers, customers, and yourself)

3. What Do Salespeople Do? Depends on job
Client Relationship Manager – many use Six Sigma programs designed to reduce errors – Standard Register used as an example in the book – one of our corporate partners
Account Team Manager – teams work well, if chosen carefully!
Vendor & Channel Manager – see example in text
Information Provider to their firm – use CRM

4. Distribution Channels Business-to-Business
Two main B-B channels are: (Exhibit 1-3 – P. 11)
Direct Sales to a business customer – call directly on customers – e.g. Nucor and Dow, IBM –examples P.12
Sales through Distributors -
Trade salespeople call directly on other manufacturers – e.g. Intel-Arrow Electronics-Hewlett Packard, 3M
Missionary salespeople – promote products ONLY – do not actually sell the product , e.g. Merck, Eli Lilly

5. Distribution Channels Consumer Channels
Direct salespeople–no middlemen-P. 11
Trade and retail salespeople sell to distributors or retailers. Examples:
State Farm sells directly to consumers
Sony uses 4th channel – sells to Best Buy
Black & Decker uses 5th channel – distributors
Firms can uses more than one channel

6. Sales Jobs and the Distribution Channel

7. Describing Sales Jobs P. 15 – Exhibit 1.4
1)Stage of Relationship: New or continuing?
2)Role: Taking orders or creating alternatives?
3)Buying Decision: How crucial is it to the customer? Low? High?
4)Contact Location: Field or inside sales?
5)Offering: Products or services: Tangible vs. intangible benefits
6)Securing Customer Commitment: The salesperson’s role – limited or significant

8. The Sales Job Continuum

9. Examples of Sales Jobs
Retail - Best Buy - relationship builders, not just order takers
Trade - Hershey – influencers who handle existing customers – see text for more information
Missionary - Abbott Labs – classic example of missionary salesperson – promote products only
Industrial - IBM capital goods & services, infrequent sales calls, can be for services and/or capital equipment – often new sales calls

10. What It Takes To Be a Top Salesperson David McClelland (Substitutes for P. 16-17)
Entrepreneurial Drive
(achievement motivation research)
Setting challenging goals for self that exceed those set by the organization for them
Using time efficiently and measuring their own activities in terms of time
Sensitivity to the Environment
Extensive memory for minute details related to consumers or sales calls in the past
Detailed observation skills, demonstrated by an ability to focus on the details of people’s appearance, names, and situational settings

11. Continued Customer Orientation Cognitive Flexibility
Asking questions to identify critical customer issues, needs, or desires
Finding ways to establishing a personal level (vs. business level) of contact with the customer (i.e. rapport building)
Cognitive Flexibility
Making procedural exceptions that are, in the end, of mutual benefit
Looking for ways to match a customer want with an available service, even one that is not offered by the salesperson’s own organization if it comes to that

12. Continued Experiential Learning
Eagerness to experience new responsibilities and sales techniques that have picked up by observing other
Ability to learn from their own mistakes

13. Emotional Intelligence - EI
Definition: The ability to effectively understand and use one’s own emotions and the emotions of people with whom one interacts
4 Aspects:
1) Knowing one’s own feelings & emotions as they are experienced
2) Controlling one’s emotions to avoid acting impulsively
3) Recognizing customers’ emotions (empathy)
4) Using one’s emotions to interact effectively with customers

14. Are Salespeople Born or Made?
Hard work , time management, and adapting a sales approach to customers’ needs are learned attributes
Others – not learned?
Bell curve example – on board

15. Rewards in Selling Independence and Responsibility Financial Rewards
Freedom, flexibility, and variety
Financial Rewards
Compensation for excellent skills and talent
See P
Management Opportunities
Strong foundation of sales skills allow opportunities for advancement

16. Questions?